Who is samuel jacksons wife

The actor celebrates his 70th birthday today.

HOLLYWOOD, CA - JUNE 27: Actor Samuel L. Jackson and wife LaTanya Richardson arrive at the premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures' 'The Legend Of Tarzan' at TCL Chinese Theatre on June 27, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic) Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

By Joi-Marie McKenzie · Updated October 23, 2020

The Jackson family is one of the most inspirational in Hollywood — and no, we’re not talking about the musical family from Gary, Indiana. Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson have managed to find and keep love over nearly four decades, all while raising a daughter and winning in their respective careers. And on Jackson’s 70th birthday, the To Kill A Mockingbird actress told ESSENCE exactly what keeps their 38-year marriage together. “You have to have a big heart and the Lord. You can’t do this without the Lord. You’re going to have to turn to somebody, something — because men, they are different,” Richardson Jackson advised. “They’re cut from a different cloth.” Still, the 69-year-old actress, who graced the December 1999 cover of ESSENCE magazine with her family, said the real secret is having a mantra for your marriage — one that both parties can buy into, believe and execute. “I’m telling you, we were revolutionaries,” she said of herself and her hubby. “We used to say the most revolutionary thing was to keep a Black family together. So that became our mantra.” But the Spelman College graduate, who met Jackson while he attended Morehouse College, admitted that it’s not easy to keep a marriage in tact, especially in Hollywood. Richardson Jackson had some tips for those struggling to figure it out. “No matter what: don’t let the sun go down on your wrath. I’d be like this,” she said, gritting her teeth, “‘OK good night, I love you. I love you.’ And I’d go to sleep.” “But let God fix it. But you gon’ have to forget a lot,” Richardson Jackson added, joking that you’ll need to have “amnesia.” The mother of one had one more piece of advice for millennial women. “And keep working,” she offered. “Keep yourself lifted. Do not [stop working] even if you have a baby. You let your baby see you working.” Ya’ heard that ladies?

TOPICS: LaTanya Richardson Jackson Samuel L. Jackson

LaTanya Richardson Jackson (née Richardson; born October 21, 1949) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in off-Broadway, before playing supporting roles on television and film.

LaTanya Richardson Jackson

Jackson in 2005

Born

LaTanya Richardson

(1949-10-21) October 21, 1949 (age 72)

Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

EducationSpelman College (BA)OccupationActressYears active1976–presentSpouse(s)

Samuel L. Jackson

(m. 1980)

Children1

Richardson has appeared in films including Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Malcolm X (1992), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), Losing Isaiah (1995), Lone Star (1996), U.S. Marshals (1998), and The Fighting Temptations (2003). Her television credits include 100 Centre Street (2001–2002), Show Me a Hero (2015), Luke Cage (2016–2018), and Rebel (2017).[1]

She was born in Atlanta, Georgia. While a student at Atlanta's Spelman College (America's oldest private historically black liberal arts college for women) in 1970, she met actor Samuel L. Jackson, then at all-male Morehouse College, who would later become her husband. She and Jackson married in 1980. As of 2020, they have been together 50 years according to Samuel L Jackson's tribute Instagram post.[2] They have one child, freelance film and TV producer Zoe Jackson, born in 1982. After her daughter's birth, Richardson stopped working regularly, because, she said: "We'd vowed to be an intact revolutionary black family. But it was very, very hard."[3]

To date, Richardson's biggest role in a motion picture was in the 2003 musical The Fighting Temptations in which she appears as the main antagonist, the hypercritical Paulina Pritchett.

In 2014, Richardson received a Tony Award nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her performance in the play A Raisin in the Sun.[4][5] This was her second appearance on Broadway after her debut in the 2009 revival of Joe Turner's Come and Gone.[6] She also appeared in Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird on Broadway in the 2018–19 season.[7]

She has appeared in four films with her husband: "Juice" (1992), Losing Isaiah (1995), Freedomland (2006), and Mother and Child (2009).

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Hangin' with the Homeboys	Caseworker
1991	The Super	Judge Smith
1991	Fried Green Tomatoes	Janeen
1992	Juice	Steel's Mother
1992	Malcolm X	Lorraine
1992	Lorenzo's Oil	Nurse Ruth
1993	Sleepless in Seattle	Harriet
1994	The Last Laugh	Elaine	Short film
1994	When a Man Loves a Woman	Dr. Gina Mendez
1995	Losing Isaiah	Caroline Jones
1996	Lone Star	Priscilla Worth
1997	Loved	Attorney Rose Jackson
1997	Julian Po	Darlene
1998	U.S. Marshals	Deputy Marshal Savannah Cooper
1998	Secrets		Short film
2003	The Fighting Temptations	Paulina Pritchett
2006	Freedomland	Marie
2007	All About Us	Cousin Bernice
2007	Blackout	Mrs. Thompson
2009	Mother and Child	Carol
2019	Juanita	Kay-Rita

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	A Man Called Hawk	Doris Gilbert	Episode: "Life After Death"
1991	Law & Order	Lorraine	Episode: "Life Choice"
1992	Law & Order	Anne Houston	Episode: "Sisters of Mercy"
1992	The Nightman	Emily	TV film
1992	Frannie's Turn	Vivian	Episodes: "Pilot", "Frannie and the Kitchen Sink"
1992	One Life to Live	Rodi	TV series
1993	Civil Wars		Episode: "Hit the Road, Jack"
1993	Shameful Secrets	Louise Levy	TV film
1993	Cheers	Moderator	Episode: "Woody Gets an Election"
1994	Midnight Run for Your Life	Det. Dixon	TV film
1994	Party of Five	Jane Gideon	Episode: "Private Lives"
1994	Earth 2	Alex Wentworth	Episode: "A Memory Play"
1995	Chicago Hope	Mrs. Parnett	Episode: "Cutting Edges"
1995	NYPD Blue	Sister Cecilia	Episode: "Heavin' Can Wait"
1996	The Deliverance of Elaine	Edna	TV film
1997	Homicide: Life on the Street	Lynette Thompson	Episode: "Betrayal"
1998	Any Day Now	Mrs. Walker	Episode: "Call Him Johnny"
1998–1999	Ally McBeal	Attorney Yvette Rose	Episodes: "Story of Love", "Let's Dance"
1999	Introducing Dorothy Dandridge	Auntie	TV film
1999	Judging Amy	Lena Railsback	Episode: "Pilot"
1999	Once and Again	Counselor	Episode: "Boy Meets Girl"
2000	Hairstory		TV film
2001	Within These Walls	Melinda Donovan	TV film
2001–2002	100 Centre Street	Atallah Sims	Recurring role (8 episodes)
2003	Boston Public	Sheila	Episode: "Chapter 62"
2011	Harry's Law	Noreen	Episode: "In the Ghetto"
2012	Damages	Judge Jaclynn Ellis	Episode: "You Want to End This Once and for All?"
2013	The Watsons Go to Birmingham	Grandma Sands	TV film
2014	Blue Bloods	Lt. Dee Ann Carver	Recurring role, Season 5
2015	Show Me a Hero	Norma O'Neal	TV miniseries
2016–2018	Luke Cage	Maybelline "Mama Mabel" Stokes	Episodes: "Manifest", "The Creator"
2017, 2022	Grey's Anatomy	Diane Pierce	Guest star (4 episodes; season 13 and 18)
2022	The Last Movie Stars	Maude Brink	TV Docuseries

Year	Title	Role	Playwright	Venue
2009	Joe Turner's Come and Gone	Bertha Holly	August Wilson	Belasco Theatre, Broadway
2014	A Raisin in the Sun	Lena Younger	Lorraine Hansberry	Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway
2018–2019	To Kill a Mockingbird	Calpurnia	Aaron Sorkin	Shubert Theatre, Broadway

Year	Award	Category	Project	Result
2014	Tony Award	Best Actress in a Play	A Raisin in the Sun	Nominated
2014	Black Reel Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a TV Movie	The Watsons Go to Birmingham	Nominated
2016	Image Award	Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie or Limited Series	Show Me a Hero	Nominated

^ "Rebel: John Singleton Scripted Drama Coming to BET in March". TV Series Finale. January 18, 2017. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
^ "Samuel L Jackson on Instagram:"50 years ago we started dancing ..." Instagram.
^ Pat Jordan (April 29, 2012). "How Samuel L. Jackson Became His Own Genre". The New York Times Magazine.
^ "The Tony Award Nominees - All Categories". Retrieved February 19, 2017.
^ Gioia, Michael (April 12, 2014). "LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Kenny Leon Discover the "Dream" in Broadway's A Raisin in the Sun". Playbill.com. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
^ "LaTanya Richardson Jackson". TonyAwards.com. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
^ LaTanya Richardson Jackson at the Internet Broadway Database